New Delhi : As US negotiators opened two days of trade talks in New Delhi on Wednesday, a top American official in Washington said India has put forward its strongest proposals yet for a long-pending bilateral pact. There’s resistance in India to certain row crops and other meats and products. Like you said, they’re a very difficult nut to crack. I agree with that 100 per cent,” Greer told lawmakers. “But they’ve been quite forward leaning. The type of offers they’ve been talking to us about have been the best we’ve ever received, as a country.
Greer said a US delegation is in New Delhi this week to work through the remaining friction points, particularly India’s resistance to American farm goods, meat and dairy products. Despite those hurdles, he said Washington now sees India as a “viable alternative market” as the US looks to diversify trade channels. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the talks are moving steadily. “Talks are continuously progressing with them. We are moving forward towards a bilateral trade agreement,” he told reporters on Wednesday. He hinted that he may meet the visiting American team.
US President Donald Trump threatened fresh tariffs on Indian rice after a farmer representative at a White House roundtable complained of dumping by India, China and Thailand. “Why is India allowed to do that? They have to pay tariffs. Do they have an exemption on rice?” Trump asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. When told a trade deal is in the works, Trump added, “but they [India] shouldn’t be doing that… We will get it settled. Tariffs solve the problem in two minutes.”
New Delhi has dug in its heels, and is determined to safeguard India’s farming and dairy sectors.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal recently said New Delhi hopes to close a basic framework deal this year that would address tariff pain points for Indian exporters even as a broader bilateral trade agreement remains some distance away.
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